>> Gold sales in Hanoi lean towards jewelery

Commercial banks and other financial institutions in Vietnam must make reports on their gold deposits as well as their lending by June 30.

Banks face tighter gold trading policies

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the country’s central bank, now requires that these commercial institutions record and report all deposits made in the form of gold.

These institutions will be required to tighten their record keeping practices, providing reports to SBV’s Monetary Policy Deparment by March 16.

On March 1, SBV issued instructions making it mandatory for commercial banks nationwide to reduce gold deposits and lending in the time to come.

SBV plans to submit in April a regulation, which would put a total ban on the trade of gold bars in the unofficial market, to the Government for approval.

As a result of these expected changes in regulations, investors have tended towards buying gold in the form of jewlery.